Well, I have been in La Paz for the past week and it has been very interesting indeed. This is a very different time because the only thing I am working on right now is my ISP. There is a great deal of free
time, accompanied with a great deal of work as well. I spend the majority of my days editing my documentary or doing interviews. Who knew it would take well over 10 hours just to edit 5 minutes of video. Now, if only my academic directors like the video we are making. I have been able to experience a little bit of the culture as well by going to museums and exploring the city. It has been really neat and the views are always awesome. I am learning how to bargain a little better but it is still one of my week points.
I must tell you about one of the most interesting cultural comparisons I have discovered this week. While walking around the city, I have had to dodge many people and taxis but this is what I have discovered. Bolivian people walk on the sidewalk like we drive in the United States and they drive like we walk on the sidewalks. Allow me to explain. When walking down the sidewalk in Bolivia, I don’t believe there is one person really paying attention and it appears as if everyone is in their own little world. I try very hard not to walk into someone but it always seems like they are aiming right for me. As for their driving, everyone pays attention and there are very few accidents. Everyone pays attention and it is alert. In the states most of us don’t really pay attention
when we drive and it always seems like there are accidents but when we walk on the sidewalks we are very cautious not to run into anyone and we keep our distance. It is so very interesting.
The cuisine here is very good as well. I have been eating my fair share of llama. I have eaten Carpaccio de llama, llama ham, and filet de llama. Just tonight I went to a restaurant that fuses international cuisine with Andean culture. It is absolutely incredible and I am sad that I will not have access to food like this later on. Of course one of my favorite dishes was the llama but another would be the spaghetti de coca. The spaghetti is actually made from coca leaves. I was skeptical at first but it was exquisite.
In this entry I would like to update you just a little on the current political situation here in Bolivia. As of right now everything is very calm but a good bit has happened since my last update. After Evo Morales kicked out the US Ambassador for conspiring with the opposition, the United States, a little later, decertified Bolivia for allegedly failing Washington's expectations for counternarcotics. The Bush administration then suspended Bolivia from the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act
(APTDEA), which will allow for some 25,000 people to lose their jobs. It truly is quite sad. After this, Evo Morales commanded that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States leave Bolivia within a time frame of 3 months due to corruption and really not helping the current forgotten “war on drugs”. The United States simply wants to eradicate coca fields in Bolivia but this is due to the misconception that coca is equivalent to cocaine. Bolivia has implemented a new campaign “Coca sí, Cocaína no” It seems to be way more effective than just having the DEA come and pull up all the coca leaves. It is also way more cost effective. It is interesting that the US has chosen to single out Bolivia when coca production in Colombia has increased 27% and only 5% in Bolivia. I hate to see the relations of these two countries so strained but I do hope things get better in the future. I don’t really have an analysis of all this, but as long as we continue to view South American countries as countries that we can control and manipulate and as countries that don’t play a significant role in this world, we will never reach a common ground and be able to help one another. We will end up just hurting more innocent people. Bolivia has so much to offer this world, it just needs the chance and for the superpowers to stop taking advantage of it. If you have any questions about this please don’t hesitate to ask. It is hard to explain everything in one entry.
My program is quickly coming to an end and I only have about two and a half weeks left. I am not going to enjoy watching Bolivia from afar because it just isn’t the same. We really don’t get to see what this country is really like. It is more than just a third world country fighting to stand on its own. The people here are real. They come from all walks of life and continue to battle oppression and discrimination. They continue to fight for a better life, free of pain, poverty, and oppression. It is hard to know what to do all the time and how to help but I guess it just comes down to helping one person at a time and making that difference in that person’s life. I will end on this. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will see you soon!!!















